Golf bags



F. W. JONES Sept. 18, 1956 GOLF BAGS Filed Sept. 24, 1954 F1@ .6. zo@

' /A/ VEN7 'O,Q wwwjw BY biaMbw-MM Ja. ATToR/vm- United States Patent OGLF BAGS Frederick William Jones, Worcester, England ApplicationSeptember 24, 1954, Serial No. 458,225

9 Claims. (Cl. ISO- 1.5)

This invention relates to bags for golf clubs.

Hitherto it has been common practice to provide golf bags withpartitions so that the shafts of two or more golf clubs may be separatedfrom one another, but these prior arrangements have not proved effectivein preventing the heads of the clubs knocking together, when placingwoods or irons in the bag or when removing woods or irons, and have notproved effective in preventing the heads knocking together when the bagis being transported. (Clubs with Wooden heads are particularly subjectto damage in this way, and for this reason it has been found desirableto protect the heads of the woods by means of small hoods made of asuitable fabric material.)

One object of this invention is the provision of a golf bag in whichsuch hoods for protecting the club heads may be dispensed with, the bagitself being adapted to protect the heads from damage.

A second object of this invention is the provision of a golf bag adaptedto facilitate the selection of a club contained therein. j

Another object of this invention is to provide a lightweight golf bag ofa relatively rigid construction to provide a frame to which theundercarriage of a caddy car may be secured.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a golf baghaving an integral storage space for desired accessories such as anumbrella of conventional size, water-proof clothing or the like and alsothe wheels and undercarriage of a caddy car which is adapted to supportthe golf bag.

The present invention concerns a golf bag which enables such hoods to bedispensed with, while at the same time the risk of damage to the clubheads is greatly reduced, such bag being characterised by the provisionof a number of stalls separated from one another by partitions and eachadapted to receive the head of a club and to maintain such head out ofcontact with the head of another club situated in an adjacent stall.

The surfaces of the stalls presented to the club heads willadvantageously be of such a nature as to protect the heads from damageand may either be formed from a material having cushioning properties,e. g. natural or synthetic rubber, or may have such a material affixedthereto.

The bag is advantageously constructed so that the row of irons may bearranged suiciently remote from the woods to make it impossible forwoods and irons to knock against each other when placing or removing andwhen in the bag. Further, the bag is preferably constructed so that thetoes of the irons may be arranged adjacent to the heels of the woods,while sutciently remote to prevent contact.

In practice, the partitions which form the side Walls of the stalls arepreferably arranged so as to extend slightly above the upper level ofsuch heads, thus preventing clubs being knocked together when beingplaced in or removed from the bag.

Another preferred feature of the present improved golf bag is thatprovision is made for the lower ends of the clubs to lie above thebottom of the bag, the clubs being suspended by their heads upon asuitable transverse support to which the partitions are secured.Further, provision is also preferably made for the handles of thesuspended clubs to hang between two closely spaced walls of acompartment in the golf bag, the spacing being arranged to prevent oneclub handle crossing over its neighbour and being in practice littlemore than the maximum diameter of the club handle.

A further preferred feature is for the partitions to take the form ofdiscs or pads mounted upon one or more transverse rods or tubes andfrictionally adjustable thereon. A rigid throat member may also beprovided at the mouth of the golf bag to which the ends of thesupporting rods are secured, and a rigid cover hinged thereto.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the top half of a golf bag containing a number ofclubs with the cover removed;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the bag and its cover;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line A-A of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 to 6 show various constructions of partitionforming members.

Referring now to the drawings, the generally tubular body of the golfbag 1, which is of rectangular crosssection, consists of threecompartments 2, 3 and 4, the first compartment 2 being adapted to housethe shafts 5 of irons 6, the second compartment 3 being adapted to housethe shafts 7 of woods 8, these two compartments 2 and 3 each extendingalong one side wall of the bag body, and the third compartment 4, whichis disposed intermediately between the first two compartments 2 and 3.This compartment 4, open at its top to facilitate access thereto, isparticularly suitable for the storage of relatively long objects such asan umbrella of conventional size which may be accommodated Withoutinterfering with access to the club heads, as well as the wheels andundercarriage of a caddy-car, water-proof clothing or the like. Thesides of the compartments 2 and 3 are made of a stitfened material suchas canvas covered plywood, plastic or fibreboard to form rigidcompartments for the club handles. These compartments 2 and 3 arerigidly spaced apart by two metal frames (not shown) situated top andbottom of such compartments, and of an outline generally as indicated byFig. 3. The third compartment 4, formed between the two said first andsecond compartments 2 and 3, has the two remaining sides completed bycanvas, one side having a zip-fastened opening 9 therein, providingalternative access to the compartment. The bottom 10 of the bag as awhole is formed of one rigid piece, advantageously of a light alloy,which may conveniently be turned up around the bottom edges of the sidesto form a beading and thus provide a neat finished appearance. As willbe seen from Fig. 3 the compartments 2 and 3 which house the shafts 5and 7 of the clubs are suiciently narrow to prevent the handle of oneshaft crossing over that of its neighbour.

A rigid light alloy portion 11, which substantially encloses three sidesof an upper portion of the golf bag 1, is rigidly attached thereto, thefourth side and top of the bag 1 being completed by a cover 12 ofsuitable fabric and hinged thereto.

Golf club irons 6 and woods S, in their respective places in the golfbag 1 are illustrated in Fig. l suspended by their heads 13 and 14-which rest upon horizontal supporting rods 15 and 16, 16. Said heads 13and 14 are individually spaced apart by disc-shaped rubber partitions 17and 13 threaded upon the rods 15 and 16. 16. and frictionally adjustablethereon and so may 3 be manually adjusted to suit varying sizes of golfclub heads. The rods 15 and 16, 16', which may advantageously be made oflight alloy tubing and encased by a rubber sleeve are attached by theirends to said rigid portion 11 as shown by Fig. 1.

Three forms of such disc-shaped partitions 17, 18 are illustrated inFigs. 4-6, although it is obvious that other shapes could readily beused, Fig. 4 showing a partition 18 suitable for spacing the heads 14 ofwoods 8 which being larger than the heads 13 of irons 6 require a deeperstall, the said partitions 18 being supported on two rods 16, 16' eachencased by soft synthetic rubbery tubing 21 and, which positivelymaintain the partition in correct vertical position. The partition 19shown in Fig. 6 is also suitable for spacing the heads 14 of woods 8 andis prevented from turning by having a hexagonal hole engaging ahexagonal bar 20. The partition 17 shown in Fig. is more suitable forspacing the heads of irons 6 as the stall does not need to be so deep,and the partitions may be rotatable to present a fresh surface from timeto time.

A material reduction in the overall width of the preferred golf bag justdescribed is possible by virtue of the method of suspension, viz. themethod of suspending the irons by their heads with the handles hangingin a single narrow compartment without any individual verticalpartitions, since these irons, whose handles take up more room thantheir heads, may be suspended with their handles in abuttingrelationship. Also due to the variation in the overall length of thevarious irons, the enlarged end of each iron handle may be arranged tolie in a different plane allowing a further reduction in the the widthof the golf bag.

In a modification (not illustrated) of the invention, each of the firstand second compartments 2 and 3 of the bag 1 may be provided with meansfor retaining in position the shafts and handles of clubs, in the formof a number of separate circular tubes of diameter suitable to receive asingle club shaft, or alternatively may be formed by a pair ofcorrugated plates, the opposed ridges of which are in register with oneanother and nearly touching so as to define between the depressions anumber of hollow, substantially cylindrical spaces into which the clubshafts may be placed and retained. Alternatively, a single row ofcorrugations may be used with a at wall arranged at suliicient distanceto prevent the shaft coming out of the semi-circular corrugated trough.

Alternatively, the mouth of the bag may be closed by a table or platformwhich has a number of holes in its surface corresponding in positionwith the shaft retaining means below, having a number of partitionsarranged between such holes, and thus form the stalls in which the clubheads are housed.

In a particular embodiment, for example, there may be a row of fourcomparatively widely spaced holes separated by comparatively deeppartitions, thus providing space for four Woods, and a second rowparallel to the first, of ten more closely spaced holes withintermediate partitions, these providing for ten irons to be housed. Thebag can of course be designed for any number of clubs.

By this method of supporting the clubs in two rows with their headsresting against the platform while separated by the partitions, thepossibility of contact between any two club heads taking place ispositively precluded, the parts of the platform and the partitions thatcome into contact with the club heads being advantageously covered witha soft material. The table and stalls may conveniently be made in onepiece from moulded rubber or similar resilient material the stalls forwoods being moulded to fit snugly around the wood heads and the stallheight being greater than the depth of the club head.

The bag may conveniently bc constructed of aluminium or other lightmetal, although leather, plastic covered cloth or other fabric may beemployed, and it will preferably be provided with a cover or hood hingedthereto, as

above referred to, so as to be capable of being swung into a closedposition in which it covers the platform and club heads while making thebag totally enclosed.

A bag according to the invention is particularly suitable for theconstruction of a caddy car, that is to say for mounting on wheels, thethird or intermediate part of the body of the bag between the partshousing the club shafts, being conveniently employed for storage of thewheels and undercarriage when the latter are in the detached orretracted positions as the case may be. When the particular form of thebag according to the invention described above is mounted on wheels inthis way, with the body of the bag inclined to the vertical in the usualmanner, the row of woods will normally be arranged along the undersideof the bag with their heads pointing downwardly, the row of irons beingarranged along the upper side of the bag with their heads similarlyoriented and thus extending towards the heads of the woods, butsuiciently spaced therefrom to avoid contact.

A further feature of the invention resides in the fact that by virtue ofthe long central storage space in which the wheels and undercarriage maybe housed, the Whole caddy car, particularly when the body portion ofthe bag is of rectangular cross-section, is particularly adapted formanufacture with external dimensions that render it suitable for storagein a conventional size club house locker. Moreover, manufacture of thebag itself of metal, so as to provide a rigid framework, provides aconvenient structure to which the wheels and undercarriage may besecured, so that the golfer is saved the necessity of buying both a golfbag and a caddy car.

Finally, it may be mentioned that the particular arrangement of bagdescribed above, greatly facilitates selection of a desired club fromthe bag, since the clubs may conveniently be arranged in numericalorder, on substantially the same level and may be seen at a glance,there being no possibility of their becoming disarranged by movement ofthe bag during transporting.

I claim:

1. A golf bag of the type in which clubs are suspended by their heads,comprising in combination a substantially transversely extending clubhead supporting member at the mouth of the bag and a plurality oflongitudinally extending club head partition members adjustably securedto said supporting member, such partitions being adapted to maintaineach club head out of contact with the head of an adjacent club.

2. A golf bag of the type in which clubs are suspended by their heads,comprising in combination at least one substantially transverselyextending club head supporting rod at the mouth of the bag and aplurality of longitudinally extending club head partition membersfrictionally adjustable on said supporting rod, said partitions beingadapted to maintain each club head out of contact with the head of anadjacent club.

3. A golf bag of the type in which clubs are suspended by their heads,comprising in combination at least one substantially transverselyextending club head supporting rod at the mouth of the bag, a sleeve ofsoft material encasing the supporting rod, and a plurality oflongitudinally extending club head partitions frictionally adjustable onsaid supporting rod, said partitions being adapted to maintain each clubhead out of contact with the head of an adjacent club.

4. A golf bag comprising in combination: two closely spaced apart rigidwalls defining therebetween a narrow pocket for the accommodation ofclub handles, the width of the pocket being little more than thegreatest diameter of any club handle; a substantially transverselyextending club head supporting means at the mouth of the bag; andadjustably secured to said supporting means a plurality oflongitudinally extending club head partition members adapted to maintaineach club head out of contact with the head of an adjacent club.

5. A golf bag of the type in which clubs are suspended by their heads,comprising in combination at least one substantially transverselyextending club head supporting rod at the mouth of the bag and aplurality of longitudinally extending club head partition members onsaid supporting rod, said partitions being adapted to maintain each clubhead out of contact with the head of an adjacent club.

6. A golf bag of the type in which clubs are suspended by their heads,comprising in combination at least one substantially transverselyextending club head supporting rod at the mouth of the bag and aplurality of longitudinally extending club head partition membersadjustable on said supporting rod, said partitions being adapted tomaintain each club head out of contact with the head of an adjacentclub.

7. A golf bag of the type in which clubs are suspended by their heads,comprising in combination at least one substantially transverselyextending club head supporting rod at the mouth of the bag, a sleeve ofsoft material encasing the supporting rod, and a plurality oflongitudinally extending club head partitions on said supporting rod,said partitions being adapted to maintain each club head out of contactwith the head of an adjacent club.

8. A golf bag comprising in combination: two closely spaced apart rigidwalls defining therebetween a narrow pocket for the accommodation ofclub handles, the width of the pocket being little more than thegreatest diameter of any club handle; at least one substantiallytransversely extending club head supporting rod at the mouth of the bag;and secured to said supporting rod a plurality of longitudinallyextending club head partition members adapted to maintain each club headout of contact with the head of an adjacent club.

9. A golf bag comprising in combination: two closely spaced apart rigidwalls defining therebetween a narrow pocket for the accommodation ofclub handles, the width of the pocket being little more than thegreatest diameter of any club handle; at least one substantiallyransversely exending club head supporting rod at the mouth of the bag;and adjustably secured to said supporting rod a plurality oflongitudinally extending club head partition members adapted to maintaineach club head out of contact with the head of an adjacent club.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,809,536 Tucker June 9, 1931 1,849,610 Boyce Mar. 15, 1932 2,534,096Zapoleon Dec. l2, 1950 2,546,416 Alter et al Mar. 27, 1951 2,685,317Lace et al. Aug. 3, 1954

